WASHINGTON – As many as one in six animals died in tests of suspect dog and cat food by the manufacturer after complaints the products were poisoning pets around the country, the government said Monday.

A federal investigation is focusing on wheat gluten as the likely source of contamination that sparked a recall last Friday of 60 million cans and pouches of the suspect food, said Stephen F. Sundlof, the Food and Drug Administration’s top veterinarian.

The ingredient, a protein source, is commonly used as filler.

Agency investigators are looking at other ingredients as well. The wet-style pet food was made by Menu Foods, an Ontario, Canada-based company.

Menu Foods told the FDA it received the first complaints of kidney failure and deaths among cats and dogs from pet owners on Feb. 20. It began new tests on Feb. 27.

During those tests, the company fed its product to 40 to 50 dogs and cats and seven animals — the mix of species was not immediately known — died, Sundlof said. The contamination appeared more deadly to cats than to dogs, he said.

The recall now covers dog food sold throughout North America under 51 brands and cat food sold under 40 brands, including Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba. The food was sold under both store and major brand labels at Petsmart, Wal-Mart, Kroger, Safeway and other large retailers.

The FDA has yet to tally how many reports it has received of cats and dogs suffering kidney failure or death. The company has reported 10 deaths, of nine cats and a single dog, but Sundlof told reporters on Monday that he expects the number of pet deaths to increase as the agency probes the cause of tainted pet food.

“We are still trying to find out what the true picture is out there of animals. We’re talking about 1 percent of the pet food (supply) and it’s really just impossible to extrapolate at this point,” Sundlof said.

Testing comes up short
Menu Foods spokeswoman Sarah Tuite told Associated Press Radio the company was “still trying to figure out the cause.”

“We’re testing and testing, but we can’t identify the problem in the product,” Tuite said.

Other companies — Nestle, Purina, PetCare Co., Procter & Gamble and Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc. — said that as a precaution they were voluntarily recalling some products made by Menu Foods.

A complete list of the recalled products along with product codes, descriptions and production dates was available from the Menu Foods Web site, http://www.menufoods.com/recall. The company also designated two phone numbers that pet owners could call for information — (866) 463-6738 and (866) 895-2708. The lines have been swamped by callers.

Tuite said the company has added more people and lines to cope with the calls. Callers who get a recording saying the line is out of order should try again, she added.

The company became aware of a potential problem after it received an undisclosed number of owner complaints that dogs and cats were vomiting and suffering kidney failure after eating its products.

Menu Foods has said the timing of the complaints coincided with the use of an ingredient from a new supplier. Use of that ingredient, which was not named, has been discontinued, it said.

The FDA said it believes it knows who that supplier was, but has not yet confirmed its name.

“We’re trying to find out whether or not that company may have supplied other companies,” Sundlof said.

Wheat gluten itself wouldn’t cause kidney failure, leading FDA investigators to suspect contamination by other substances, including heavy metals like cadmium and lead or fungal toxins. Aflatoxin, a corn fungus, sparked a 2005 dog food recall.

The new recall covers the company’s “cuts and gravy” style food, which consists of chunks of meat in gravy, sold in cans and small foil pouches from Dec. 3 to March 6.

The company said it makes pet food for 17 of the top 20 North American retailers. It is also a contract manufacturer for the top branded pet food companies.

The recalled dog food brands are:

Americas Choice, Preferred Pets

Authority

Award

Best Choice

Big Bet

Big Red

Bloom

Bruiser

Cadillac

Companion

Demoulas Market Basket

Eukanuba

Food Lion

Giant Companion

Great Choice

Hannaford

Hill Country Fare

Hy-Vee

Iams

Key Food

Laura Lynn

Loving Meals

Meijers Main Choice

Mighty Dog (The recall affects only 5.3 pouch products that were produced from Dec. 3, 2006 through March 14, 2007.)

Mixables

Nutriplan

Nutro Max

Nutro Natural Choice

Nutro

Ol’Roy Canada

Ol’Roy U.S.

Paws

Pet Essentials

Pet Pride – Good ’n Meaty

Presidents Choice

Price Chopper

Priority

Publix

Roche Bros

Save-A-Lot

Schnucks

Shep Dog

Springfield Prize

Sprout

Stater Bros

Total Pet, My True Friend

Western Family

White Rose

Winn Dixie

Your Pet

Veterinarians say if your cat or dog ate any of the recalled products, you need to look for symptoms of kidney failure.

Vets say it will be hard to treat animals that become ill from the recalled food until they can determine what is in the food to cause pets to have kidney failure.

“We don’t have enough data to know what the prognosis is,” said Dr. Sharon Finster, a veterinarian at N.C. State. “Without knowing the agent that’s causing it, we can’t tell if the animal will recover or not.”

And the doctor says symptoms of kidney failure can be somewhat vague and mistaken for other things. Pet owners should look for decreased appetite, vomiting, either increased drinking and urination or no urination at all.

If your pet exhibits these symptoms, you should get them to a vet quickly.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

One Response to “Pet Food Recall”

Alicia

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